1. Field of the Invention
This invention is concerned with the use of isoquinoline derivatives for the treatment of glaucoma or ocular hypertension. More particularly, the invention relates to ophthalmological compositions containing an active amount of these isoquinoline derivatives or the pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Glaucoma is an ocular disorder that causes functional or organic disturbances in the eyes due to continuous or repeated increase in intraocular pressure. The treatment of glaucoma is required to reduce an intra ocular pressure to the normal level in order to maintain optic functions.
Pilocarpine eye drops have been used extensively for the treatment of glaucoma. It is known however that pilocarpine eye drops not only reduce an intraocular pressure but also act on musculi sphincter pupillae and cilia thereby causing side effects such as darkness feeling due to miosis, conjunctival congestion and accommodative injection. Such side effects may invite very serious dangers in operation particularly to persons engaging in transportation. In the case of an elderly patient with cataract, miosis will result in an increased visual disorder. These problems have encouraged development of drugs for the treatment of glaucoma to be substituted for pilocarpine eye drops.
Epinephrine eye drops being a product of such needs are also associated with side effects such as conjunctival congestion, pain at the eyebrow and allergic blepharoconjunctivitis. The eye drops sometimes bring about increased intraocular pressure due to mydriasis and are rarely used. In addition, drugs such as surface-anesthetic agents, pschotropic agents, etc. have been attempted for clinical use in the treatment of glaucoma but none of them is put in practice.
Recently .beta.-receptor blockers have become promising in this field, and timolol maleate, carteolol hydrochloride and befunolol hydrochloride are commercially available as drugs for the treatment of glaucoma.
In view of such situations, we have investigated further medicinal use of isoquinoline derivatives having .beta.-adrenergic blocking activity as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publications No. 41673/1978 and No. 55512/1988 and found that they possess an intraocular pressure reduction activity and are useful for the treatment of glaucoma and ocular hypertension. As far as we know, it has not been reported that the isoquinoline derivatives as disclosed above have been used for the treatment of glaucoma or ocular hypertension.